The 2019 International Academic Communication Conference for Technological Innovation took place in Guangzhou on Dec 21, jointly hosted by the Asia-Pacific Innovation Economic Research Institute (APER) and the Academic Exchange Information Center.

Experts and scholars discussed the current situation and development trends of digital economy, which is considered as a new engine for the high-quality development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Hot issues in digital economy, spanning artificial intelligence, 5G, big data, and block chain, were explored by guests including Zhao Shengjie, director of the School of Software Engineering of Tongji University, and Huang Yuezhen, general manager of Guangzhou Radio Group.

China has witnessed rapid development in its digital economy, according to the white paper on the development and employment of the country's digital economy, released in 2019. The overall scale of China's digital economy reached 31.3 trillion yuan ($4.46 trillion) and the Greater Bay Area has been a pioneer in the country's digital economy development.

"Developing digital economy relies on the establishment of a network ecosystem, which means wider communication, exchange, and sharing," said Li Zhijian, president of APER.

Zhao noted the importance of talents and introduced Tongji University's model for cultivating talents in software engineering design.

"Guangzhou has a solid foundation in manufacturing and has been listed among the first three 5G industrial parks in Guangdong, along with Shenzhen and Shantou," said Wang Hongling, deputy director of the Guangzhou branch of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology.

"It is expected that Guangzhou's 5G industry will welcome many breakthroughs in application innovation, as well as the upper, middle, and downstream industries," added Wang.

The 2019 International Academic Communication Conference for Technological Innovation takes place in Guangzhou on Dec 21. [Photo/southcn.com]